Athens, Greece

We visited Athens as a cruise stop in 2015 and arrived via the Piraeus port.
We visited the Acropolis Complex, Parthenon, Ancient Agora, Olympian, Filopappos Hill, Sounion, Church of Holy Apostles, Stoa of Attalos and the Temple of Hephiastos.
It was over 32 degrees Celsius and humid (August) and though I’m not a big fan of heat, I loved the day!
Here are some photos:
They were doing repairs on the Parthenon while we were there but it didn’t take away from the beauty.
On our way back to the ship, we got into a conversation with the taxi driver who told us about the reality of the political and economic struggles in Greece and how the system was failing.
He told us that the competition for fares were really tough because so many of the people out of work were turning to taxiing.

There are no politics anymore. No police doing anything.

I noticed that the motorcyclists had no helmets on which I haven’t really seen in Europe before. The roads were a literal death trap. At the side of the road, I could see parking spaces double parked, so drivers were just blocking each other in, there were police on the road too but they didn’t do anything. The taxi driver said they don’t get paid enough to bother dealing with traffic violations anymore.
He told us that a few weeks earlier, at a football match, the stewards didn’t open one of the gates to get in & it caused a riot in which 35 young people were killed and no one was punished for it.
It is hard for me to believe that a country that was so prominent & forward thinking enough to create architectural masterpieces, found the Olympics & be the birth place of many great philosophers & scholars could now be in such disrepair & being failed beyond belief.
I really love Greece, I have also visited Crete & Santorini and have honestly loved every moment, it is just a shame that financial struggles can encourage some people to riot & cause trouble for the rest.
|| Related: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland ||
Bex

13 thoughts on “Athens, Greece”

Loved this post! I definitely agree on the ugly reality. There are ton of places that are beautiful but unfortunately, they aren’t well looked after because the govt that’s appointed to do that work doesn’t give a sh*t. Loved all the pictures, though! You look so pretty and I love the green romper that you’ve adored <3 I haven't been to Greece yet but would love to visit it once 😀

I am off to Athens in 2 weeks and after reading your review, I’m really excited. the photos look amazing. This is going to be my first visit to Greece so I’ll be taking note of your comments. Thanks for sharing.